So forgive my OCD about this...I really like this game though and feel that structuring submissions would greatly benefit.
I posted briefly concerning this idea here: http://andorstrail.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1949#p21278 but wanted to get input and popularity of it here. The original idea isn't mine but wanted to expand options for it.
This would allow for ideas to be easily taken from the drawing board straight through to being implemented very quickly. Project Meeting thread could quickly reference the idea being voted on with a link. While not everyone on here with an idea is a programmer or quest writer, this idea would allow for them to be more productive with as little effort as possible. The majority of the grunt work would be done by the person with the idea...if they believe their idea would greatly benefit the game then it would be no problem for them to submit a formalized idea post in order to streamline the process. Once a submission is approved, the creator would then submit a link to the thread on the Issues section at http://code.google.com/p/andors-trail/issues/list and be responsible for locating someone with enough time to implement their idea.
Example: If paperdolling was implemented for this game, and I had an idea for a new sword, I would be responsible for submitting the sprites or finding a volunteering member on the forums willing to create the sprites for the weapon. The same post could be used for finding people to help too. Similarly, this in-depth structuring the forums/submissions is my idea...I would be be responsible for finding someone who administrates the forums to implement this idea if (1) it is very popular, and (2) the administration is willing to have this implemented.
Simply put this idea would bring a level of professionalism to go from having an fully fleshed out idea to having it implemented very quickly. Unstructured ideas could still be freely discussed in the main Ideas and future development forum.
Submission Process
- Start post for idea in correct sub-forum category.
- Post subject should start with *New* or *Change* then title (e.g. *New* Kukri)
- Post should have poll with Allow re-voting to allow for people to change their vote if idea is tweaked.
- Poll options should be:
- Yes
No
Unsure
Not enough info
- Post should include Change Log starting at "v.1.0" with subsequent changes to main idea increment version "0.1"
Adding a Change Log would allow for idea to show where it has been tweaked and evolved. If v.1.2 would not work dev's could always go back to v.1.1 and know what exact changes to make.
Each different category should have a stickied form that would be copied/pasted for the new thread to provide better structure for the ideas...sometimes it is easy to leave stuff off or forget about stuff...this would also help people flesh out their ideas. Example provided further down.
Implementing Ideas
- Fully fleshed out popular ideas would be brought up at meetings and voted:
- "Yes"
"No"
"Wait and see how idea evolves"
- Idea creator modify original post for approved version.
- Idea creator post a link to approved idea in http://code.google.com/p/andors-trail/issues/list and locate someone that has time to implement it.
Sub-Forum Categories
This list would be additional sub-forums in "Ideas and future development" forum
Submission Form Example
The bold parts would be what the stickied form template for weapons would consist of. Armor, potions, misc items would have different templates as well.
This would be posted at the top of this (Ideas and future development) forum:
Needed
- Suggestions/corrections for the sub-forum names that would be implemented.
- Input on what information that would be needed for the stickied forms for each sub-forum category.
Change Log
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v.1.1
- Added example of Weapon Form
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v.1.2
- Added versioning change log suggestion (credits to fiernaq)
- Edited and formatted for clarity
- Replaced sub-forum "Content" with "Graphics" & "Game Mechanics"
- Added sub-forum "Forum Suggestions"
- Voted in versions to be corrected by idea creator then post a link to thread in Issue Tracker (credits to phydeaux)
- Added idea for additional How To Sticky (working on this sometime today)
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v.1.3
- Added How To sticky
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v.1.4
Instead of changing the original post sections, changes in this manner easily follow what changes have been made throughout the different versions of the main idea. (change log order ascending now) (credits to Pyrizzle)
Descending changes - newest version/changes listed first (Pyrizzle)
Ascending changes - OP first, subsequent changes last (the way this post is setup)
Poll not recommended as people following thread freely discuss changes for the main idea anyways. (credits to Pyrizzle)
Spiffy emoticons used for noting key changes (Taledus)
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